1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply interrupting apparatus which interrupts a dark current of a battery installed on a vehicle such as an automobile, and more particularly, to a power supply interrupting apparatus which is made to interrupt a power supply in a simple operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of electronic components have been installed on motor vehicles produced in recent years. An onboard battery supplies a minute current (that is, dark current) to some of the electronic components even when the vehicle is parked with an engine turned off. Due to the battery supplying current to the electronic components when the engine is off, the voltage of the onboard battery is reduced when the engine is turned off for a long period of time, resulting in a state where the onboard battery is left uncharged, leading to a flat battery (that is, the overdischarge of the onboard battery).
To prevent such an incident, conventional practice is to disconnect a battery terminal from a battery, as shown in FIG. 25, when the vehicle is kept at rest for a long period of time, is put in a garage for repair, or to remove a fuse disposed upstream of a dark current consuming electronic control unit (hereinafter, referred to as “ECU”), as shown in FIG. 26, when the vehicle is transported on a transport vehicle.
There is known a vehicle power supply interrupting apparatus which requires manual operation to interrupt the electric continuity (refer to JP-A-8-279321). When the power supply interrupting apparatus is pushed down, the operating portion is designed to rotate 90 degrees by a coil spring incorporated within the apparatus, and a contact, engaged with the operating portion, moves to an OFF position in association with the rotation of the operating portion, while an indication mark on the operating portion indicates an “OFF” position. Due to this, the operator can visually recognize from the position of the indication mark that a power supply line has been opened.
In addition, when attempting to return the operating portion from the OFF position to an ON position, the operating portion is pushed down and rotated 90 degrees in a reverse direction to reach the ON position, and thereafter, the pressure applied to the operating portion is released.
However, the method of interrupting the power supply by disconnecting the battery terminal is dangerous and troublesome to users in general. In addition, the removal of the fuse is also troublesome work. Additionally, the power supply interrupting apparatus described in Patent Document No. 1 has the problem with operability.